Manhattan Beach resident Brad Gerlach and fellow big-wave-hunting partner Mike Parsons received one of surfing’s highest honors on Friday during the U.S. Open Surfing Championship at Huntington Beach. Both were inducted into the Surfer’s Hall of Fame.

“A piece of my heart is here at the pier,” a soft-spoken Gerlach said after ceremoniously pressing his hands into the wet concrete near the pier.

Also inducted into the echelon of elite surfers who have their names etched on the sidewalk were surf legend Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew and Surfline.com’s famous swell-psychic Sean Collins.

Gerlach, 42, who became a household name for any surf-fan worth his wax in the late ‘80s and ‘90s, disappeared from the professional scene after taking second-place in the 1991 World Title race.

He and his friend Parsons began to experiment with Personal Water Crafts (PWCs) with a group of fellow surfing experimentalists including Laird Hamilton. Gerlach soon found himself on the vanguard of the big wave tow-in movement, where surfers would use PWCs to whip themselves into waves that were too big and too fast to paddle into by hand.

Ten years later he and his tow-in partner Parsons exploded back into the mainstream. Parsons was awarded the Billabong XXL award for conquering a record breaking 66-foot wave, thanks to Gerlach’s tow. But the team didn’t stop there. In 2005 they upped the ante when Parsons returned the tow favor and whipped Gerlach into a 68-foot wave at Todos Santos, Mexico.

Then, in January of this year, the two big-wave hunters returned to Todos to shatter the old record when Gerlach pulled his buddy into an estimated 80-foot wave.

The team thanked fellow inductee Collins for helping them predict where they would find the biggest surf.

Gerlach, who recently moved to Manhattan Beach, keeps a low-profile in the beach town filled with world-famous athletes, remaining a hop-and-a-skip away from the airport for when the ocean calls.

He keeps himself busy between swells jamming an electric six-string in a band called Musket, which makes appearances at venues around town and throughout Southern California.

Gerlach was unavailable for comment after being recognized in Huntington, immediately hopping on a plane to Cabo San Lucas to ride a southern pulse.